Democratic Candidate’s Past Declarations Resurface
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing renewed scrutiny over comments he made about Sharia law nearly two decades ago, after a 2009 New York Times interview resurfaced following his primary victory. The interview, highlighted this week by the Washington Free Beacon, dates back to when El-Sayed was a 24-year-old medical student. At the […]
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing renewed scrutiny over comments he made about Sharia law nearly two decades ago, after a 2009 New York Times interview resurfaced following his primary victory.
The interview, highlighted this week by the Washington Free Beacon, dates back to when El-Sayed was a 24-year-old medical student. At the time, he was discussing his decision to use an Islamic financing arrangement when purchasing a condominium through University Bank in Ann Arbor.
The Times article focused primarily on the bank’s efforts to offer financing products structured to comply with Islamic prohibitions against charging or paying interest. For most readers, the story was a look at how financial institutions adapt conventional lending practices for customers whose religious beliefs place restrictions on interest-based transactions.
What stands out now, however, is the language El-Sayed used to explain his personal decision.
“Ultimately, the question is,” El-Sayed said at the time, “when I die, and I stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Shariah-compliant way. Not because of fear but because of obligation.”
Nearly 20 years later, and with El-Sayed seeking a seat in the United States Senate, those words are receiving a very different level of attention.
The obvious question is what El-Sayed meant by “obligation” and whether his views about the relationship between his religious beliefs and public service have changed since 2009. Religious observance by itself is hardly unusual among American politicians. Christians, Jews, Muslims and members of other faiths routinely allow their beliefs to influence their personal decisions.
The relevant political issue is whether a candidate believes religious law should ever supersede the Constitution or civil law.
Members of the Senate take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and El-Sayed’s campaign says there is no conflict between that responsibility and his personal faith.